Chris Murphy: We Need to Double Down on Gun Control and the Progress We Made in 2022

EXCERPT:

MURPHY: “I mean, we’re losing a generation of kids because, you know, literally, your brain chemistry changes when you are exposed to that level of violence or when you live in a dangerous neighborhood and you are exposed to it every single day. It’s not a coincidence that the underperforming schools in this country tend to be in the violent neighborhoods. So we’ve got to understand that the scope of damage that we are doing to our kids is absolutely enormous. That being said, there is some reason for hope at the end of this year. We’re not going to rest until there is not a single school shooting in this country. But mass shootings this year in America are down by over 20%. Urban homicides are down by over 20%. Those are absolutely extraordinary declines, and that is, in part, due to the fact that we passed in 2022 the most significant anti-gun violence bill in 30 years. You are starting to see the impact of that bill. So what we’ve shown is that when we get serious about changing the laws of this country, just make it a little bit harder, let’s say for kids in crisis to get their hands on a powerful weapon, that we can have an impact. We just have to, you know, go back next year at the state level and at the federal level and try to double down on the progress that we made in 2022."